My daughter just did a mock in Maths and English and was averaging 80%. I was told that she doesn't have much chance of getting in to Tiffins with that result at this stage. She was just below average from the group. There was a child that managed to get 100% in the Maths! so I am feeling deflated as up to now I thought my daughter was on track and previously heard that a score over 80% or even over 70% is enough to get in. She is particularly good at Maths but slips up with silly errors. On checking her work she always realises her mistakes and knows how to do the Maths. With English most of her mistakes are vocab, so not that easy to improve much on that now.

Can others who got into Tiffins let me know what marks girls were getting on the GL papers just before the exam please.

Whilst mocks are a good indicator where your child is in relation to the desired mark reqiured I would encourage you not to get too concerned. It's very much how she does on the day and how her cohort does. Stay positive and good luck!

What is the date of the English exam?

If you just start spending half an hour a day reading a good book together like Little Women or Anne of Green Gables her vocab would start to improve immediately.

Keep a notebook, write down the words she does not know and get her to use them in a sentence.

Get the audiobooks and listen to them in the car.

You can make an immediate impact on vocab by starting to use better words yourself and encourage her to do the same.

Have a challenge between you as to who can use the most new words.

As for silly mistakes in Maths don't call them that. Call them wrong answers and show her the ranked result from the mock so she can see the consequences of not checking her work.

Does she ever sit with her paper closed in a timed paper? DG

Date of exam is 1 Oct.
We do read a lot already and listen to audiobooks . She has read Anne of green Gables herself a year ago and does enjoy reading. But I guess we could be more formal about taking notes of the new words as her vocab seems poor for what is needed for the 11+.
It's my daughter who calls her Maths mistakes silly, as when we go through the answers she says she knows how to do it. But with English her mistakes are nearly always things she does not know. But she gets similar results in both subjects.
With Maths she tends to have less than a minute spare to revise. We have been working on mental arithmetic. Her Maths level is more advanced than 11+ so she is capable of getting all the questions right and she believes this too, I think time is the main factor though as she feels she needs to rush a lot which is what makes her slip up. She is perhaps a bit on the slow side still. With English she tends to have quite a lot of time spare and always revises, never just sits there.

Hi newbieCath

I can understand your concerns since my DS has similar problem with Maths and English.
I am trying to use method where you check your answer (quickly) before moving to next one. He is happy and result are better.

One query:
Do you know for Tiffin Stage 2, do they ask to write Story/Essay in English?

Thanks
Ritz

Yes, as No one is expected to write in any foreign language.

I thought the above question was with the emphasis on "Story/Essay", not "English".

Having said that, the passage given at Tiffin Boys for the essay 3 yeas back was from Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo" and last year's essay at Wilson's was based on "The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson (excellent book but not one aimed at children at all in my opinion).

So much for English comprehension.

Going to the start of the conversation, 80% and above is a very good result for the mocks.

A great website to play word games and improve vocabulary is freerice.com. You are given a definition and four word options to choose from. Every right answer takes you to the higher level of difficulty - and there are about 60 levels in total. Every wrong answer is explained, the player stays at the same level and then the question re-appears after a few others - to check yourself that the correct answer is remembered.

Very good advice, there is no set passmark, you are competing against others, not trying to meet a notional standard.

If you think about it, if the test is too easy, not really going to identify the best as many will have similar high marks, conversely if too hard you wont identify the best, just those that either didn't panic, or were lucky they got some questions they could answer.

So you need to teach a bit of exam technique, staying calm and moving to another question if stuck, time management and going back to skipped part later. Candidates are probably coming from about 100 different primary schools, some will simply not know some things, and other things known by some don't appear in a question. So they test has to try and cut through this knowledge difference whilst producing meaningful rankings.

Finally ignore comments along lines of Mrs X child got 100% in a test, might have been second or third time they did it, or just a boastful and untruthful parent. And what you get in a mock doesn't count towards the marks on the day.

My child also did a mock (multiple choice) and scored in the mid 80s. I was pleased until I looked at the ranking of scores and saw he was average! Feeling despondent now...I think the competition is just too tough, and we’ve only recently started prepping..

Any tips for the tiffin multiple choice first stage at this stage??

Remain cool, don't pass your anxiety to the DC. Still time to work on weak areas.